Janusz Walus, the killer of anti-apartheid activist Chris Hani, was due to be released in two days.
The assassin of anti-apartheid activist Chris Hani was stabbed to death in a South African prison two days before the deadline for his controversial parole, prison officials told us on Tuesday, November 29.
“The Department of Corrections (DCS) confirms the unfortunate incident in which inmate Janusz Walus was stabbed,” the prison administration said in a statement. “The condition of the detainee is (in) a stable condition,” she said, adding that the injured person is currently receiving “necessary care.”
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According to initial reports, Mr Walus, 69, was stabbed to death by another inmate, according to the correctional service, who said they would open an investigation. Justice last week granted an early release to this Polish immigrant linked to the far-right white African man who killed Chris Hani in 1993. He should be released no later than December 1, according to the decision of the Constitutional Court, the highest court in the country.
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Chris Hani’s widow had denounced a “diabolical verdict”. And a demonstration against his release on Saturday brought dozens of people together at the call of the historic ruling party, the ANC. During the night from Saturday to Sunday, Chris Hani’s grave in the Ekurhuleni community in east Johannesburg was vandalized.
Communist leader and senior official of the Liberation Party’s armed wing, Chris Hani, 50, was killed at close range by Janusz Walus in the driveway of his garage on 10 April 1993. At that time, delicate negotiations were going on with the white power in view of the first democratic elections in the country.
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The assassination had heightened racial tensions and provoked violent riots in South Africa’s townships, which were being shaken by the dying breath of the racist regime. In a lively televised speech, Nelson Mandela called for calm.
Janusz Walus had been sentenced to death, but the new regime abolished the death penalty in 1994 and commuted his sentence to life imprisonment. He had been eligible for parole for about 20 years. His previous applications had all been rejected. In South Africa, Chris Hani’s death is commemorated each year in the Hall of Heroes of the Anti-Apartheid Struggle.